But Umali said that public school teachers will still have an increase due to Executive Order No. 201 or the Salary Standardization Law which was signed by former president Benigno Aquino III last February 2016.

He said that the P19,000 basic salary of public school teachers in 2016 has been increased to P19,620 last year. For this year, the third tranche of the salary increase amounting to P20,179 will be effective this month.

Diokno had also the same sentiment saying that considerations on adjusting the salaries of government workers, particularly public school teachers, should be addressed after the fourth tranche of the salary standardization program has been completed in 2020.

“There’s about 15 to 16 percent increase in salaries this year and another in 2019 and 2020,” Diokno said.

Meanwhile, Umali said that they were also ordered by Education Secretary Leonor Briones to study the effects of the newly-implemented Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law to public school teachers.